Get to know the short film: WALKING SUPPLY, 25min, Canada, Crime/Thriller

Playing at the CANADIAN Best of Short Film Festival. Thursday May 25th, 7pm. Carlton Cinemas.Get your FREE TICKETS

After escaping a soviet labour camp, three men struggle to survive in the barren landscapes of Siberia. The harrowing trek soon becomes a living nightmare for Yuri (James McDougall) when he discovers that his fellow escapees Oleg (Douglas Nyback) and Alexei (Jamie Maczko) plan to murder him for food. Inspired by true events ‘Walking Supply’ chronicles the dark journey of three men as they are pushed to their absolute limits. How far would you go to get home?

Director Statement

I did not want to make this movie.

With a schedule already overflowing with projects, I certainly was not hunting for another one. Unfortunately, when co-writer/producer James McDougall told me about the TRUE STORIES we based this script on, it sounded like a movie that was too damn good NOT to make. If we didn’t trudge out into the Canadian Wilderness to make this happen, how was anyone going to watch this in a theatre?

So, several months of snowy, sunny, bloody passionate filmmaking later – I am proud to offer up the fruits of our labour: the short film WALKING SUPPLY.

I’m a sucker for survival films. Walking Supply takes the action, drama and gallows humour we’ve come to expect, then adds a fascinating piece of intrigue: what if a good man secretly discovers that his “friends” plan to kill him for their own survival? The slow burn of this concept struck me as an incredible source of suspense.

The terrifying situations our protagonist Yuri faces were so satisfying to read on paper, but bringing them to life brought the entire experience to a new level! I wanted to see these character look exhausted – but the actors actually dieted for weeks during our hiatus, and grew out their facial hair to look the part. I wanted lots of fancy shots – then our badass crew shlepped gear through frozen forests for days on end with smiles on their faces. I was hoping that we’d have a cool score – then our composer shocked us with the quality of his work!

I took on this project because it was a story that I wanted to watch unfold on screen. The cast and crew went so far above and beyond that I can happily sit back now and marvel at their efforts as an audience member. It’s a hell of a tale to behold, and I hope you enjoy watching it as much as I do!